System and method for grazing television channels from an electronic program guide

ABSTRACT

A television system comprises an electronic program guide (EPG) including a picture-in-picture (PIP) window and means for returning to a last channel viewed full screen (LCF) in a television viewing mode prior to entering the guide mode. The EPG displays a program list including a listing for the LCF and text identifying it as such. This last channel listing is positioned at the top of a program list area in the guide. The viewer returns directly to the LCF in the television viewing mode by setting a cursor to the last channel listing prior to exiting the guide mode. In guides including listings for future programs, the last channel listing remains in a designated position of the program list area. To return to the LCF from the guide mode, the viewer cursors to the last channel listing in the program list and then presses a GUIDE/TV button, designates the LCF as the default channel to which the system automatically tunes when exiting the guide mode, or presses a LAST CHANNEL button on the remote control unit to simultaneously exit the guide mode and tune the system to the LCF. Alternately, the system may employ separate television and PIP tuners. In the guide mode, the television input is switched to the PIP tuner and the television tuner remains tuned to the LCF. Thus, when the viewer reselects the television viewing mode, the program being telecast on the LCF is displayed full screen.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 09/401,712, filed onSep. 23, 1999, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,606,747 on Aug. 12, 2003, whichis a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 08/952,382, now U.S. Pat. No.6,154,203, filed Nov. 12, 1997, which claims priority of PCT PatentApplication No. PCT/US97/04233, filed Mar. 14, 1997 which claimspriority of provisional Application No. 60/024,598, filed on Aug. 29,1996, and provisional Application No. 60/013,371, filed Mar. 15, 1996.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the field of television and, moreparticularly, to a method and apparatus for switching between atelevision viewing mode and a program guide mode in which video programsand related text are displayed simultaneously on a television screen.

For a number of years television receivers have been equipped withpicture-in-picture (PIP) capability. In PIP format, the moving, realtime images of one television channel are displayed on the background ofthe screen and the moving, real time images of another televisionchannel are displayed in a PIP window overlaid on a small area of thebackground. Because two channels are simultaneously displayed by thetelevision receiver, two tuners are required. The viewer enters the PIPmode by pressing a PIP key of his or her controller. Then, the viewercan change either the channel of the background or the channel of thePIP by resetting the appropriate tuner. To reverse the background andPIP images, the viewer simply presses a SWAP key. To collapse the PIPwindow, the viewer again presses the PIP key.

Television program guides help television viewers select programs towatch. Such television program guides list the available televisionprograms by day of the week, time of day, channel, and program title.For many years television program guides have been published in hardcopy form. More recently, as illustrated by Levine U.S. Pat. No.4,908,713, television program guides have begun to take an electronicform. In other words, the schedule of program listings is stored in anelectronic memory connected to the television receiver. The programlistings are recalled from memory by the viewer on command for displayon the television screen.

Despite the prevalence of television program guides, many viewers stillmake their program selections by switching the television tuner fromchannel to channel and observing on the screen what program is beingreceived on the respective channels. This process is sometimes called“grazing.”

Emanuel U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,019 discloses an automated form of channelgrazing. A preselected group of channels are sequentially scanned byswitching the tuner of the television receiver from channel to channel.A still image of the program received on each channel is stored in amemory. After all the channels have been scanned, the still images fromall the channels are simultaneously displayed on the television screen.This process gives the viewer more information about the program choicesin addition to that obtainable from a television program guide, namely,the displayed still images of the actual programs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a television system comprising in aguide mode an electronic program guide (EPG) which includes a PIP windowfor display of real time images and a last channel recall. The lastchannel recall provides the viewer means for returning from the guidemode to a last channel displayed full screen in a television viewingmode, or last channel full screen (LCF), prior to entering the guidemode. The EPG displays a vertically oriented program list which includesa listing for the LCF, and text identifying it as such. This lastchannel listing is positioned at the top of a program list area of anall channel guide. The viewer may return directly to the LCF in thetelevision mode by setting a cursor in the all channel guide to the lastchannel listing immediately prior to exiting the guide mode.

The guide mode may include various types of guides. In guides whichinclude listings for future programs, the last channel listing ispositioned at a designated position of the program list area and remainsin that position as the viewer scrolls through the other programlistings in the program list. Preferably, this designated position is atthe bottom of the program list area.

The system provides several options for returning to the LCF from theguide mode: the viewer may cursor to the last channel listing in theprogram list and then press a GUIDE/TV button; the viewer may designatethe LCF as a default channel to which the system automatically tuneswhen exiting the guide mode; or the viewer may press a LAST CHANNELbutton on the remote control unit to control the system to automaticallyexit the guide mode and simultaneously tune the system to the LCF.

In an alternate embodiment, the system employs two tuners, one for usein the television viewing mode and the other for use by a PIP chip inthe guide mode. In the guide mode, the television tuner remains tuned tothe LCF. Thus, when the viewer reselects the television viewing mode,the program being telecast on the LCF is displayed full screen.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the presentinvention will become better understood with regard to the followingdescription, appended claims, and accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a television receiver that has anelectronic television program guide incorporating the principles of oneembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a television screen displaying a SURF guide formatted inaccordance with the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a television screen displaying a NEXT guide formatted inaccordance with another embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a television screen displaying a SCAN guide formatted inaccordance with the embodiment of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a television screen displaying a SORT guide formatted inaccordance with the embodiment of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of a remote control unit for operating theelectronic program guide; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of yet another embodiment of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This application is an improvement on application Ser. No. 08/475,395,filed Jun. 7, 1995, the disclosure of which is incorporated fully hereinby reference, and International PCT Application No. US95/11173, filedAug. 31, 1995, the disclosure of which is also fully incorporated hereinby reference.

The above-referenced applications each describe a television systemincluding an electronic television program guide (EPG) in which themoving images of a television program are displayed in a PIP window onthe screen of a television monitor and textual information related tothe television program is displayed in the background on the screen.Preferably, the audio portion of the television program displayed in thePIP window is also reproduced by the sound system of the televisionmonitor. The textual information is arranged on the screen so none of itis covered by the moving images.

In one embodiment, the textual, program-related information is atelevision program schedule. One of the program listings of the scheduleidentifies, by title and time and/or channel, the television program inthe PIP window, which displays moving images.

To facilitate channel grazing, a television viewer can use a PIP formatfor display of current television program listings from a programschedule data base in the background and moving, real time images of aprogram selected from the displayed listings in the PIP window.Specifically, as the viewer selects a particular program from thedisplayed current television program listings by means of a cursor or acode number, the corresponding program automatically appears in the PIPwindow. In this way, the viewer can channel graze by sequentiallyselecting the individual program listings in the background. When theviewer finds a program that the viewer wishes to watch, the viewerleaves the PIP format and returns to full screen television viewing, thetuner already being set to the desired program. To do this the viewercan reverse the background and PIP window and then collapse the window,leaving the desired program on the full screen, or the apparatus can beconfigured to return to full screen viewing in a single step.

To permit the viewing of programs scheduled for future broadcast withoutlosing sight of the current program being watched, a television viewercan use a PIP format for display of television program listings for aspecific channel or a specific time from a program schedule data base inthe background and moving, real time images of the current program onthat channel in the PIP window. Specifically, as the viewer changeschannels, the current program on that channel automatically appears inthe PIP window. Alternatively, the programs scheduled for futurebroadcast can be formatted by category. The viewer can control thebackground to display program listings for a period of days, e.g., aweek, in the future. In this way, the viewer can continue to watch atelevision program while ascertaining the future programs on the channelto which the television tuner is set. When the viewer finds a programthat the viewer wishes to watch, the background disappears, leaving theprogram on the channel to which the tuner is set on the full screen.

In the course of switching from the television viewing mode to the guidemode, navigating through the various guides available in the guide mode,and channel grazing in the guides, the viewer may forget which channelhe or she was watching prior to entering the guide mode. Accordingly, itis desirable to provide the viewer a simple means for returning to thelast channel he or she was viewing before entering the guide modewithout having to rely on his or her memory and without having tonavigate through several guides in the guide mode in order to identifyand access that channel when switching back to the television viewingmode. A television system according to the present invention providesthe viewer with a last channel recall feature which allows the viewer toreturn to the last channel displayed full screen from the guide mode.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a television receiver that has anEPG. This receiver is the same as that described in the above-referencedpatent applications, including reference numerals, with the addition ofa last channel register 34. Microprocessor 24 is programmed to executethe functions described below. Although last channel register 34functionally is a separate component, it could be incorporated into therandom access memory (RAM) of microprocessor 24, not shown. Similarly,cursor position register 32 and program schedule memory 22 could beresident in the RAM of microprocessor 24. When the receiver is in thetelevision viewing mode, the channel to which tuner 11 is set is storedin register 34. Each time tuner 11 is set to a new channel, the lastchannel data in register 34 is updated. Ordinarily, only the nationalchannel name or identification, e.g., CBS, HBO, CNN, is stored inregister 34. A local channel number is retrieved from the channel mapmemory for display on the screen.

FIG. 2 is a television screen display that is a modification of the allchannel guide for current time (NOW) shown in FIG. 8 of theabove-referenced applications. The modification vis-a-vis theabove-referenced applications is a last channel listing 45 at the top ofprogram schedule area 46, which is designated by the text “(LastChannel)”. In banner 43, the designation “NOW” has been changed to“SURF”, the designation “CHAN” has been changed to “NEXT”, thedesignation “NEXT” has been changed to “SCAN”, and the designation“SORT” remains the same. These and other modifications to the EPGsdescribed in the above referenced applications are described inapplication Ser. No. 08/744,399 filed on Nov. 7, 1996, the disclosure ofwhich is incorporated fully herein by reference.

In program schedule memory 22, the program listings are coded by day ofthe week, time of day, and channel so that they can be accessed by themicroprocessor 24 when necessary to supply program schedule informationto the video processor 30 to compose the program listings and theprogram descriptions. The microprocessor 24 has a real time clock (notshown), the time of which is compared with the time of day and day ofthe week codes to select the program listings for the SURF guide. Thefunctional storage areas of the cursor position register 32 are mappedto the storage areas of the video processor 30 where the programschedule is formatted for display on background area 40 so the cursorposition register 32 points to the area of the screen, and thus theparticular program, that is highlighted by the cursor 48. At the sametime, the microprocessor 24 operates the switch 18 so the output of thetuner 11 is directly connected to the one input of the PIP chip 19 andswitches PIP chip 19 into a PIP mode, such that the input from the tuner11 is displayed in PIP window 42 and the program schedule from the videoprocessor 30 is displayed in background 40. The microprocessor 24 sensesthe channel to which the tuner is set when the SURF guide is entered,and initially positions the cursor 48 at the program listing broadcaston this channel. As the viewer moves the up/down arrows of the cursorcontrol key set, the tuner 11 is reset accordingly and new programschedule information is fed through the microprocessor 24 to the videoprocessor 30 to recompose the program listings so the cursor 48 remainsvisible and the program description remains current. By comparing thecursor position in the register 32 with the channel corresponding to thehighlighted area of the video processor 30, the channel of thehighlighted program is derived and coupled to the microprocessor 24. Themicroprocessor 24 then sets the tuner 11 to this channel. The describedmode facilitates channel grazing by the viewer. When the viewer findsthe video program he or she wishes to watch, the viewer leaves the EPG.As a result, the microprocessor 24 switches the PIP chip 19 out of thePIP mode, such that the video program inputted from the tuner 11 isdisplayed full screen.

Microprocessor 24 is configured to retrieve the data in last channelregister 34 and to couple the retrieved data to video processor 30 to beincorporated into the formatted display shown in FIG. 2 as last channellisting 45 when the viewer enters the guide mode. It should be notedthat it is not necessary to retrieve the associated title data becausethe program is simply identified as “(Last Channel)”. The listing forthe same channel is also displayed in its regular order in the programlistings with the title information.

According to a presently preferred embodiment, when entering the guidemode from the television viewing mode, the system automatically displaysthe SURF guide (FIG. 2). Microprocessor 24 is configured to positioncursor 48 on last channel listing 45 and to display the program beingbroadcast on the last channel, i.e., “The Cosby Show” on KCOP 13, as thereal time video image in PIP window 42. In operation, to display adifferent channel in PIP window 42, the viewer moves cursor 48 to adifferent entry in area 46. For example, to view “Married With Children”on FOX channel 11, cursor 48 highlights this entry and microprocessor 24is configured to set tuner 11 to that channel.

While the system is in the guide mode, the data in last channel register34 does not change. Microprocessor 24 is configured to set tuner 11 tothe channel marked by cursor 48. When the viewer returns to thetelevision viewing mode from the guide mode, the setting of the tuner 11is not changed so the program last displayed in banner 43 is displayedfull screen. Thus, if the viewer wishes to return to the channel thatthe viewer was last watching in the television viewing mode, the viewermoves cursor 48 to the top of area 46 to highlight last channel listing45 and then automatically returns to the television viewing mode bypressing GUIDE/TV button 52 on a remote control unit 50, as shown inFIG. 6, which may function as viewer input device 28 (FIG. 1). When theGUIDE/TV button is pressed, the channel data in register 34 is retrievedby microprocessor 24 and transmitted to tuner 11 to set tuner 11 to thelast channel, e.g., KCOP 13 in the case illustrated in FIG. 2. If theviewer instead wishes to watch a different channel upon return to thetelevision viewing mode, the viewer moves cursor 48 to highlight theentry in area 46 that identifies the desired channel and thenautomatically returns to the television viewing mode by pressing theGUIDE/TV button. When the GUIDE/TV button is pressed this time, thechannel data in video processor is retrieved by microprocessor 24 andtransmitted to tuner 11 to set tuner 11 to the highlighted channel,e.g., FOX 11, in the case illustrated in FIG. 2.

The viewer may enter any of the other program guides for the SURF guidescreen. The on-screen options are located in banner 43 and include agreen NEXT prompt, a yellow SCAN prompt and a red SORT prompt. In FIG.3, a version of a screen format for the NEXT guide is shown. All theprogram listings for the channel highlighted immediately before leavingthe SURF guide, i.e., FOX Channel 11, are displayed in area 46, from thecurrently broadcast program into the future for a specified time period,e.g., 24 hours or until the end of the next day. This last channelhighlighted before exiting the SURF guide is hereinafter referred to asthe “last channel surfed” or “LCS”. Area 46 has a column for time and acolumn for program title; each line of area 46 represents a separateprogram listing. The moving, real time images of the current televisionprogram on the channel are displayed in the PIP window 42. If the cursoralso highlights this program, a brief program description of thatprogram is displayed in area 44. If the cursor highlights anotherprogram listing, as shown in FIG. 3, a brief program description of thehighlighted program is displayed in area 44. The program being displayedon the LCS always remains displayed in the PIP window 42 as the viewernavigates through the SCAN guide. The viewer may return to the SURFguide by selecting the blue SURF prompt 55 in banner 43.

According to the presently preferred embodiment, only the SURF guideincludes the last channel listing 45. In order to utilize the lastchannel feature, the viewer must return to the SURF guide and selectlast channel listing 45 with cursor 48 prior to exiting the guide mode.

In FIG. 4, a version of a screen format for the SCAN guide is shown.From this menu, the viewer can select the future time of the programlistings to be displayed at intervals such as one-half hour. Theselected future time, i.e., 8:00 p.m., for the program listingsdisplayed in area 49 is shown in banner 43. A brief program descriptionof the program listing highlighted in area 46 by the cursor 48 isdisplayed in area 44. The time slot of the SCAN guide can be incrementedby one-half hour to 8:30 p.m. by selecting the red 8:30P prompt 59 inbanner 43. Conversely, the viewer can scan back one-half hour to 7:30p.m. by selecting the green 7:30P prompt 57 in banner 43. By way ofexample, if the television program schedule for 8:00 p.m. is currentlydisplayed in area 46 and the viewer selects the green 7:30P prompt 57,the television program schedule for 7:30 p.m. will be displayed in area46 and 7:30P will be displayed in sub-area 49 of banner 43. The greenon-screen prompt 57 will change to 7:00P and the red on-screen prompt 59will change to 8:00P so that the viewer has the option of scanningforward or backward in time by one-half hour with a single touch of thecorresponding colored button on the remote control unit 50. Here also,the program being displayed on the LCS always remains displayed in thePIP window 42 as the viewer navigates through the SCAN guide. The viewermay return to the SURF guide by selecting the blue SURF prompt 55 inbanner 43.

In FIG. 5, a version of a screen format for the “SORT” guide is shown. Alist of various categories, i.e., movies, sports, variety, are displayedin area 46. Again, the program being displayed on the LCS always remainsdisplayed in the PIP window 42 as the viewer navigates through the SCANguide, and the viewer may return to the SURF guide by selecting the blueSURF prompt 55 in banner 43.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, each of the NEXT, SCAN, and SORT guidesinclude a program listing 54 for the current television programdisplayed in the PIP window 42, i.e., the program being displayed on theLCS. This listing is hereinafter referred to as the “PIP listing”. Manytimes, a given program list will contain more program listings than maybe displayed in area 46. Accordingly, only a portion of the programlistings available in the guide will be displayed at one time, with“hidden” program listings being displayed as the viewer scrolls throughthe program list. The PIP listing 54 is positioned on the top line ofarea 46 and remains at this position even as the viewer scrolls throughthe program listings available in the respective guide. Preferably, thePIP listing is on a background having a different color or shade thanthe cursor 48.

According to a presently preferred embodiment, GUIDE/TV button 52 onremote control unit 50 (FIG. 6) allows the viewer to toggle between thetelevision viewing mode and the guide mode. Thus, the viewer may exitany of the guides by pressing the GUIDE/TV button. The program displayedin the PIP window 42 will be displayed full screen upon entering thetelevision viewing mode, that is, the program currently being telecaston the LCS.

As described above, when entering each of the NEXT (FIG. 3), SCAN (FIG.4), and SORT (FIG. 5) guides from the SURF guide (FIG. 2), the tuner 11remains set to the LCS, so that the moving real time images of thetelevision program viewed from the SURF guide remains in the PIP window42 for uninterrupted viewing. Also, in each of these guides, the PIPlisting 54 is displayed at the top of area 46. In an alternateembodiment according to the present invention, area 46 may include thelast channel listing 45, providing the viewer with the last channelrecall feature in any of these guides. This channel is hereinafterreferred to as the last channel full screen or “LCF”. As in the SURFguide, the text designating the LCF in the last channel listing 45 is“(Last Channel)”.

It is desirable to position the PIP listing 54 at the top of area 46 toclearly identify which program is being displayed. It is also desirableto display the last channel listing 45 in a fixed position in area 46separate from the other program listings. According to one embodiment,area 46 in each of the NEXT, SCAN, and SORT guides is arranged such thatPIP listing 54 is at the top of area 46 and last channel listing 45 isat the bottom of the list. These listings remain in their designatedpositions even as the viewer scrolls through the other program listingsin the respective guide. Preferably, the last channel listing 45 ishighlighted a different color or shade than the cursor 48 or the PIPlisting 54. The last channel listing is generated in the same manner asdescribed above for the SURF mode. The viewer may cursor to any listingin area 46 including the PIP listing 54 and the last channel listing 45.

In one embodiment, the tuner remains tuned to the LCS in the NEXT, SCAN,and SORT guides regardless of which listing is selected with the cursor.Therefore, in these guides, the program being displayed in the PIPwindow 42 does not change. In this embodiment, to utilize the lastchannel recall feature, the viewer pushes the GUIDE/TV button to exitthe guide mode while the cursor is positioned on the last channellisting 45, which controls the microprocessor to retrieve the channeldesignation for the LCF from the last channel register 34 and to controlthe tuner to tune the LCF. Hence, the program being telecast on the LCFis displayed full screen upon returning to the television viewing mode.However, if any other listing is selected at the time the viewer exitsthe guide mode, the tuner will remain tuned to the LCS, and the programdisplayed in the PIP window prior to exiting the guide mode will bedisplayed full screen in the television viewing mode. Hence, the LCS isthe default channel when switching to the television viewing mode. In analternate embodiment, the default channel may be designated as eitherthe LCS or LCF by the viewer during system set-up.

In another alternate embodiment, the viewer may toggle between theprograms telecast on the LCS and LCF in the PIP window 42. According tothis embodiment, while in the NEXT, SCAN, or SORT guides, themicroprocessor 24 controls the tuner 11 to tune the LCF when the cursoris set to last channel listing 45 so that the television program on theLCS displayed in PIP window 42 is replaced by the program last displayedfull screen. The tuner will remain tuned to the LCF until the PIPlisting 54 is selected. This affords the viewer the option of togglingbetween the program being telecast on the last channel he or sheselected before entering the guide mode and the last channel he or sheselected while channel grazing in the SURF guide mode. Preferably, thecolors of the PIP listing 54 and last channel listing 45 highlightingare exchanged, but their respective positions in area 46 are not.

According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, returningto the LCF in the television viewing mode from any guide is facilitatedby the inclusion of a LAST CHANNEL button 60 on remote control unit 50.In a television viewing mode, a last channel button is commonly used totoggle between a currently tuned channel and previously tuned channel.According to the present invention, the LAST CHANNEL button 60 may alsobe used to return to the television viewing mode from any guide, i.e.,SURF, NEXT, SCAN, or SORT, while simultaneously tuning the tuner 11 tothe LCF. The viewer thus has two viewing options when exiting the guidemode, either pressing the LAST CHANNEL button to return to the LCF inthe television viewing mode, or pressing the GUIDE/TV button to returnto the LCS in the television viewing mode.

In the embodiments described above, the microprocessor 24 controls asingle tuner 11 to display a program in both the television viewing modeand the guide mode, and the LCF is stored in a memory such as a RAMconnected to the microprocessor. FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram ofa television system according to the present invention utilizing twotuners to provide last channel recall feature. According to thisembodiment, the LCF is stored in a television tuner 72 which tuneschannels in the television viewing mode. Depending on they type of tuneremployed, the LCF may be stored in television tuner 72 mechanically orin the phase-locked loop of the tuner. In the guide mode, a separate PIPtuner 74 tunes channels for display in the PIP widow and the televisiontuner 72 remains tuned to the LCF. Since the television tuner remainstuned to the LCF, upon return to the television mode from the guidemode, the program being telecast on the LCF is automatically displayedfull screen.

Although certain preferred embodiments of the present invention havebeen described herein, many modifications and variations will beapparent to those skilled in the art. It is therefore to be understoodthat the scope of the invention should be limited only by the appendedclaims.

1. A method for channel grazing from an electronic program guide (EPG)of a television apparatus having a tuner, the method comprising:displaying a program carried by a television channel in full screenformat during a television viewing mode; receiving a user selection of afirst EPG mode; storing in a channel memory a designation of thetelevision channel in response to the user selection of the first EPGmode; generating a last channel listing for the channel designation;displaying a plurality of first television program listings in the firstEPG mode; displaying the last channel listing in a separate area fromthe plurality of first television program listings in the first EPGmode; selecting one of the displayed first program listings in the firstEPG mode; setting the tuner to a channel carrying a first programindicated by the selected first program listing; displaying the selectedfirst program in a picture-in-picture window in the first EPG mode;changing to a second EPG mode in response to a user command; displayinga plurality of second television program listings in the second EPG modewherein the plurality of second television program listings include aprogram listing for the selected first program; displaying the lastchannel listing in a separate area from the plurality of secondtelevision program listings in the second EPG mode; selecting one of thedisplayed listings in the second EPG mode; in response to the selectionof the last channel listing, displaying the program carried by thetelevision channel in the picture-in-picture window; in response to theselection of the program listing for the selected first program,displaying the first program in the picture-in-picture window; and inresponse to the selection of one of the displayed second programlistings, displaying information on the selected second program whilemaintaining the picture-in-picture window.
 2. The method of claim 1further comprising maintaining the program listing for the first programin a fixed position on a display screen.
 3. The method of claim 1further comprising changing the displayed plurality of second televisionprogram listings while continuing to display the program listing for thefirst program.
 4. The method of claim 1 further comprising: receiving auser selection of a television viewing mode; and displaying the firstprogram in full screen format.
 5. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising: receiving a selection of the displayed last channel listing;retrieving the designation of the television channel from the channelmemory in response to the selection; and changing to the televisionviewing mode to display the program carried by the television channel infull screen format.
 6. The method of claim 5 wherein the last channellisting remains in a fixed position on the screen.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the first EPG mode displays television program listingsof television programs broadcast at a present time.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the second EPG mode displays television programlistings of television programs to be broadcast at a present time and afuture time by the channel carrying the first program.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the second EPG mode displays television programlistings of all television programs to be broadcast at a designatedfuture time.
 10. A television system comprising: a memory storing aplurality of first television program listings and a plurality of secondtelevision program listings; a channel memory; a tuner; a display; apicture-in-picture window; a user input device; and a processor coupledto the memory storing a plurality of first television program listingsand a plurality of second television program listings, the channelmemory, tuner, display, picture-in-picture window, and user inputdevice, wherein the processor is configured to: display on the display aprogram carried by a television channel in full screen format during atelevision viewing mode; receive via the user input device a userselection of a first EPG mode; store in the channel memory a designationof the television channel in response to the user selection of the firstEPG mode; generate a last channel listing for the channel designation;display on the display a plurality of first television program listingsin the first EPG mode; display on the display the last channel listingin a separate area from the plurality of first television programlistings in the first EPG mode; receive via the user input device a userselection of one of the displayed first program listings in the firstEPG mode; set the tuner to a channel carrying a first program indicatedby the selected first program listing; display the selected firstprogram in the picture-in-picture window in the first EPG mode; changeto a second EPG mode in response to a user command; display on thedisplay a plurality of second television program listings in the secondEPG mode wherein the plurality of second television program listingsinclude a program listing for the selected first program; display on thedisplay the last channel listing in a separate area from the pluralityof second television program listings in the second EPG mode; receivevia the user input device a user selection of one of the displayedlistings in the second EPG mode; in response to the selection of thelast channel listing, display the program carried by the televisionchannel in the picture-in-picture window; in response to the selectionof the program listing for the first program, display the first programin the picture-in-picture window; and in response to the selection ofone of the displayed second program listings, display on the displayinformation on the selected second program while maintaining thepicture-in-picture window.
 11. The system of claim 10 wherein theprocessor is further configured to maintain the program listing for thefirst program in a fixed position on the screen.
 12. The system of claim10 wherein the processor is further configured to change the displayedplurality of second television program listings while continuing todisplay the program listing for the first program.
 13. The system ofclaim 10 wherein the processor is further configured to: receive via theuser input device a user selection of a television viewing mode; anddisplay the first program in full screen format.
 14. The system of claim10, wherein the processor is further configured to: receive a selectionof the displayed last channel listing; retrieve the designation of thetelevision channel from the channel memory in response to the selection;and change to the television viewing mode to display a program carriedby the television channel in full screen format.
 15. The system of claim14 wherein the last channel listing remains in a fixed position on thescreen.
 16. The system of claim 10, wherein the first EPG mode displaystelevision program listings of television programs broadcast at apresent time.
 17. The system of claim 10, wherein the second EPG modedisplays television program listings of television programs to bebroadcast at a present time and a future time by the channel carryingthe first program.
 18. The system of claim 10, wherein the second EPGmode displays television program listings of all television programs tobe broadcast at a designated future time.